Friday the 16th of August 2019 is the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo massacre. Armed forces charged a peaceful mass protest demanding political representation in the fight for bread, jobs and living pay.

This bloody response to workers’ political organisation in 1819 laid bare the truth that the state is not a neutral body representing the best interests of all classes. It has many lessons for today about the roots of capitalism in Britain - and the lengths the capitalist state will go to when faced with a political crisis.

And stay listening at the end for our new segment on the latest workers’ struggles, and what socialists are fighting for in response to recent national events.